Eternity Present
by Wesley Antion
Summary: A young child tells Link that the world is going to end, and before he can argue he is warped off to a distant planet by this strange child. Meanwhile, Hyrule IX is destroyed by a dark force.Set thousands of years in the future. Please Read and Review.
1. Hyrule IX

Hyrule IX

Hyrule IX was a peaceful planet, for millions of years it had been. Kept under the rule of the royal line, the Harkinians, the planet prospered and advanced far into scientific discoveries, far surpassing any previous civilization. Or so they thought.

Revolving around the star Anthreos, Hyrule IX was slowly lulled into complacency. The algae farms grew more than enough base material to synthesize food for the planet nation. Jobs were plentiful, the planetary economy booming with exports outnumbering imports four to one. Mechanized beings did nearly all physical labor. Nearly every citizen of this wealthy planet had a university degree. Technology was upgrading constantly, and people were hired daily for brand new jobs created overnight by this avalanche of data.

Immigration was overflowing with hopeful people. This was no problem, as new levels were simply dug underneath the main city layer, making whole other planets within Hyrule IX. Extra bedrock was shipped off to the desolate mutant planet of Termina.

Hyrule IX was paradise.

But not for long.

Another idyllic summer's day had passed by, the star Anthreos falling behind the horizon. Darkness began to cover Crastel, the coastal capital city of Hyrule IX. Golden-red waves crashed into the expansive reefs lining the crystalline blue lagoon where the capital port stood. Hoverski's floated alongside the plasteel deck, casually rocking with the toss of the waves. Millions of Hylians glanced out of their sunbathed windows and witnessed this glory for the last time.

As the last rays of light struggled to fight off the ever advancing darkness, Link sat down at the dinner table and watched. Synthesized Lon Lon milk swilled in a recirculator, keeping the milk fresh. The gentle hum reminded Link of the bees he had seen in the atrium earlier in the day with his Eighth Year Class. Sitting alone in the dining room, he closed his eyes and listened intently to the recirculator, envisioning the honeybees hard at work in the enclosed tropical jungle. He envisioned the brightly colored cucoos and their hilarious attempts at speech. He imagined the giant man-eating flowers behind their plasteel bars, drooling and snapping viciously at passersby. Laughing to himself, he imagined the playful monkeys who had stolen his teacher's favorite hat.

"Link." a voice called from down the hallway.

"What mom?" he quickly replied, snapping out of his dream world.

"It is time for you to go to bed." his mom ordered.

Not bothering to argue, because he knew he would lose, he always did, Link sauntered off down the hallway, kissed his mom on the cheek, and stepped on the antigrav plate which lifted him up to second floor. Walking into the washroom, he said, "Toothbrush on."

Squaring himself with the mirror, he smiled, nonchalantly watching the tiny infrared beams judge his teeth's distance, then giggled slightly as the ultrasonic beams tickled his teeth, knocking off plaque and grime. "Rinse."

A small stream of water shot out of a fountain on the side of the sink. Link put his face down towards it, sucking in a mouthful of water, gargling lazily, and then spitting the water into the sink. He watched with fascination as, like every other night, the sink fizzed up, disinfecting itself. Link spent a couple more minutes in the washroom, and then walked to his room, put on his pajamas, and climbed onto his antigrav mattress. Sleep came quickly to the Hylain youth and he dreamed lazily and happily into the night.

Link sat upright in bed, his bladder burning. He jumped out, landing with a soft thump on the synthesized wool carpet. "Light on," he spoke softly, as he rushed to the washroom. Dim floor lights came on, illuminating just enough to keep him on course. After relieving himself Link began to walk back to his bedroom. He rounded the corner in the hallway and opened the door to his room and was startled to see a small child staring at him. "Woah!" he let out a small gasp.

"Hello Link," the child spoke calmly, in a cultured tone. "It is time to leave now. Are you coming?"

"Whaa?" Link questioned, feeling thoroughly befuddled.

"The world is going to be destroyed soon. Will you come with me now?" The four-year-old asked in a slightly irritated voice.

"So wait," Link choked out words slowly, "you are...who are you? Why are you here?"

"My name is Keln, I am here to take you away from this planet because it is going to be destroyed very soon. NOW will you come?" angrily spoke the child.

"Whaa? The world is ending?"

"Yes." Keln spoke through clenched teeth.

Link remained silent, still puzzled by this strange child.

"Please Link, we must leave now!" Keln whispered harshly, gesturing angrily with her tiny hands.

"Uhh, sorry. I can't go. Besides, why would Hyrule be destroyed?"

"Fine! Have it your way, foolish human."

Keln reached down to her waist and began to adjust a small box on her belt.

"Whoa! Is that a personal portal?" Link questioned, suddenly interested in Keln.

"Much better." and with that, Keln projected a small portal into the floor and jumped in, leaving Link wondering.

The sun didn't rise the next morning. Dark clouds covered nearly the entire horizon, blocking out all light. Link stumbled through the hallways, screaming at the top of his lungs, "LIGHT ON! Why won't you turn on! Lights on!"

"Link! Stop screaming, there has only been a temporary power outage. Lights should be on within the hour. Now go back to bed, there is no need to be up this early." His father said sternly.

Unable to sleep, Link promptly disobeyed and went into the kitchen and began to eat breakfast. "Hi," a small cultured voice spoke from behind him, "Can I have some?"

"Uh!" Link exclaimed, turning to find the voice. "Oh, it's just you again." he remarked unenthusiastically as he saw Keln standing behind him.

"So, ready to leave today?"

"No," Link rudely replied, "Get lost."

"I'm afraid that if I 'get lost' you will die." Keln replied smoothly.

"Oh shut up with the 'death and destruction' you midget. I'm trying to eat here." Link replied angrily.

"Fine, you leave me no other choice." Keln said, her voice dripping with sarcastic remorse.

Quickly, she projected a portal underneath Link's stool, then one under her, launching them both through time and space to a planet far from Hyrule IX.

The blackout on Hyrule IX remained until late in the day. All work was cancelled for the day, seeing that no electricity made life impossible. However, at four thirty, the lights came back on and stayed on until they overloaded and blew out the entire power grid for the entire planet. All reserve power sources were exhausted within minutes. All mechanical laborers froze in position, rusting at alarmingly fast rates. The algae base greenhouses were rocked by scale 10 earthquakes, bringing down the sealed structures within minutes. Immediately the mass produced algae began to rot in the contaminated air. The oxidization process took minutes, destroying nearly three years worth of algae base.

Major technological centers collapsed with overloads of data. Oily black crystals began to form on all computers and vehicles. The entire weapons and ballistics sector of the Starfleet was enveloped in a giant immobile block of obsidian. Thousands of buildings collapsed because of the added weight from these crystals, crushing billions of citizens to death. A collective cry of pain arose from the crippled planet.

Seeing this cataclysm and its devastating effects on their enemy, the Terminian warlords warped thousands of ships into orbit around Hyrule IX. Laser blasts raked the gruesome remains of the once beautiful planet, cutting deep into the lower levels. Once the Terminian forces thoroughly subdued the mortally wounded planet, they landed and raided, killing any survivors. Only those who fled to the very deepest levels of the planet survived.

Terminian forces set up bases throughout Crastel, not bothering to venture any further into the now desolate planet.

For the few survivors, no hope was reserved. Only surviving off of the plants and animals in the underground atrium, they lived in misery, waiting for the day when huge Terminian mutants would come to slaughter them all.


	2. Great, a Mutant Planet

Author's Note: Hey, sorry about the short chapters. They are basically just enough to get the plot rolling. Once we get into the decent action, updating will be alot slower because of the longer chappies. Well, thanks for reading. Really, I don't know why people whine so much about not getting reviews. Sure, I'll ask for them, but really, whining doesn't help.

So thanks for putting up with whiners, not to mention my writing, and for reading. (And maybe, just maybe reviewing...)

* * *

Great, a Mutant Planet...

Link felt a slight shift in equilibrium as his stool fell into the portal. The darkness enveloped him instantly. He gazed with shock and fear as the portal snapped shut, leaving him in a seemingly eternal darkness. "Don't worry," a small voice called out from the darkness, "It only gets worse."

Suddenly white hot pain began to shoot through Link, his veins turning purple due to the stress. He screamed, clenching his fists until his fingernails gouged deep cuts in his palms. The blood oozed out; forming razor sharp droplets which penetrated his skin, pock marking his well defined torso. Link began to cry, his tears were acid, burning trenches down his face. He felt his cheeks dissolve until only his bleached white cheekbones protruded from his face. A whole new wave of horror swept over the young Hylian boy as his toes began to break off into tiny pieces. He watched in agony, feeling every bone snap, joint dislocate, and tendon tear. The dismemberment continued up his feet, to his calves and on to his waist. Out of breath, Link looked down at himself. He was a bleeding mess. No energy left to scream, he slowly began to quiver, then shake as silent sobs tore through his miserable excuse for a body.

No sleep or coma came to rescue Link from his pain. He remained awake, barely enduring the fiery blast of pain which racked his corpse. Slowly, ever so slowly, he sank into the abyss, falling forever into the black.

Keln came through the portal first, landing with a soft whump on the ground. The antigrav stool came next, bouncing off the packed dirt with a metallic clang. Finally, Link dropped with a meaty thud. Keln giggled as she saw the child twitching silently on the ground. "Hey sleepyhead, wake up." She taunted, kicking a rock at Link.

Link groaned, fearing another assault of pain.

"C'mon wimp! Get up. You're not hurt!" Keln added, with a hint of frustration in her voice. Impatiently she waddled over and kicked Link at the base of his spine. He arched his back, and whipped his hand around to hold the affected area, brushing his leg as he did.

"What?" Link said with a gasp, diverting his hand to his leg. "They're not gone?"

"No idiot. You think I would destroy your body after all the work I went through saving you? Irrational child!" Keln replied distastefully.

"Then, why did it hurt so much?" Link inquired; once again thoroughly confused.

"The pain? That's nothing." Keln quickly dismissed.

"Are you kidding me!" Link roared, instantly angered.

"Nope."

"LIAR!" Link seethed.

"Fine," Keln caved in, "The pain is from emotion."

"What?" Link interrupted.

"Ahem." Keln cleared her throat indignantly, "The pain is from emotion. For example, you were very confused about the power outage, you were angry at your sister for replacing the sugar with salt, you were particularly mad that I took you away from your home, oh yes, and you like that little blonde girl at school. All these em-"

"How did you know that?" Link blurted

"Would you stop interrupting me? I'm trying to monologue. Now if you please." Keln motioned to her mouth, making a zipping motion with her fingers.

"Yes, so as I was saying, all these emotions have different pains. Love incurs the pain of loss, which, just so you know tends to be a dull seething pain that never goes away. Um..." Keln scratched her head, thinking, "Oh! Then there is anger. That one just burns and burns and burns! And what else were you..."

"Uh, I think you said confused too." Link added.

"Eww, poor you. Did your arms and hair get ripped off?" Keln asked with genuine interest.

"No," Link replied, almost casually, "My toes got plucked out, and then my legs were dismembered slowly. You know, tendon by tendon, joint by joint..."

"Wow that sucks." Keln said shaking her doll like head. "You must have been really confused."

"You think so?" Link sarcastically remarked, suddenly remembering his dislike for this tiny girl who spoke like an adult.

"I know so." Keln replied matter-of-fact-ly.

"Well then, if you 'know' so much, then why am I here?" Link continued, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"The world was ending."

"Right, just like I was the king of Hyrule IX!" Link retorted, his rage beginning to boil deep within him.

"It was." Keln stated bluntly. "I'll prove it to you, we'll just warp right back to Hyrule IX and you will see for yourself."

"No way!" Link said, instantly afraid of Keln, "I am never going back through that portal!"

"Fine then, you'll just have to trust me that Hyrule IX is dead." Keln replied calmly.

Keln's last words sunk deep into Link, cutting to his heart. "If Hyrule IX is dead, then..." his voice trailed off as he thought of his sister and parents. Keln let her forehead fall, averting her eyes from the Hylian youth. A long and heavy silence fell over the mismatched travelers as the reality of death and destruction sunk into Link's mind. Slowly, a tear formed at the corner of Link's eye and rolled down his cheek. He pulled his knees up to his chest, and buried his face in his knees. Long sobs began to escape from his mouth. Link gasped for air, trying to take a deep breath, only to be stopped short by another wave of tears. In all thirteen years of his life, never had Link cried so earnestly and long. His eyes were beyond red rimmed when he stopped crying. Sniffing to clear his nose, Link looked up at Keln, who stood waiting patiently.

"They really are dead, aren't they?" He asked, in a barely audible whisper.

"I'm afraid so." Keln replied, her young voice soothing more than her words could ever do.

"Ok." Link replied in a cracked voice, thankful that he was not wasting tears on hope instead of grief.

Another long silence fell over the two. Link sat vacant eyed, staring off into the distance. Slowly his eyes crept across the landscape. Thousands of stunted trees spread out over hundreds of miles created the illusion of walking on rainbow broccoli. Occasionally his eyes would meet a stone tower that swayed with the wind, sometimes a leafless tree. He saw purple flowers, snapping at miasmas of flies. Grey soil set off the dark blue of the midnight sky with an eerie orange luminescence. Then far to the east, he saw a pillar of white smoke, glowing against the night sky. Blue flames shot out from underneath the smoke, adding an even weirder shade of blue to the night sky.

"Keln, where are we?" Link spoke softly.

"Do you know how to focus the antigrav pulses in this chair to make a beam?" Keln asked, completely randomly as she dragged the stool over towards Link.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I learned about it in technology class. Why?" Link questioned.

"You need a weapon, that's all." Keln replied nonchalantly.

"What?" Link replied, his voice still soft from crying.

"You will need a weapon, c'mon, this IS Termina." Keln said in a dumb sounding voice.

Link's eyes rolled back as he stared into the night sky, "Great, a mutant planet."

There it is... Chapter 2.

So one thing. Does the emotion even come across as remotely genuine? I'm really bad at that. I love thrillers, most of the time, all plot, no character depth. I'm trying. Really. Tell me what you think. I really mean it. But I'm not whining. :P


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